Gamma Piscium is a star approximately 138 light years away from Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

, in the constellation Pisces

Pisces (constellation)

Pisces is a constellation of the zodiac. Its name is the Latin plural for fish, and its symbol is . It lies between Aquarius to the west and Aries to the east...

. It is a yellow star with a spectral type of G9III, meaning it has a surface temperature of 5,000 to 6,000 degrees and is a normal giant star

Giant star

A giant star is a star with substantially larger radius and luminosity than a main sequence star of the same surface temperature. Typically, giant stars have radii between 10 and 100 solar radii and luminosities between 10 and 1,000 times that of the Sun. Stars still more luminous than giants are...

. It is slightly cooler than our Sun, yet it is 11 solar radii in size and shines with the light of 61 Suns. At an apparent magnitude

Apparent magnitude

The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...

 of 3.69, it is the second brightest star in the constellation Pisces, between Eta

Eta Piscium

Eta Piscium is the brightest star in the constellation Pisces. Eta Piscium is located at a distance of about 294 light years from Earth and shines at magnitude +3.62. It is of Spectral type G7 III...

 and Alpha

Alpha Piscium

Alpha Piscium is a star in the constellation Pisces. It has the traditional name Alrescha , from the Arabic الرشآء al-rišā’ "the well rope". Less common names are Kaitain and Okda, the latter from the Arabic عقدة ‘uqdah "knot".The distance to α Psc is about 139 light years...

. Once a white A2 star, it is 1.4 billion years old.

Gamma Piscium moves across the sky at three-quarters of an arcsecond per year, which at 130 light years corresponds to 145 kilometers per second. This suggests it is a visitor from another part of the Milky Way Galaxy; in astronomical terms, it will quickly leave the vicinity of the Sun. Its metallicity

Metallicity

In astronomy and physical cosmology, the metallicity of an object is the proportion of its matter made up of chemical elements other than hydrogen and helium...

 is only one-fourth that of the Sun, and visitors from outside the thin disk that composes the Milky Way tend to be metal-poor. It also has a low carbon-nitrogen content. Gamma Piscium lies inside a pattern known as the "circlet of Pisces."

In fiction

In Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert

Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...

's Dune series

Dune universe

Dune is a science fiction franchise which originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel of all time, Dune is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history...

, Gamma Waiping (The Chinese name for Pisces) is the home system of Imperial House Corrino

House Corrino

Imperial House Corrino is a fictional noble family from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The Corrinos come to power after mankind's victory against the thinking machines at the Battle of Corrin , and rule until deposed by Paul Atreides approximately 10,000 years later during the events...

.